Officials from the U.S. and European Union gave themselves a big pat on the back today, announcing that a joint operation of theirs recently netted over 360,000 fake computer components over a two week period, a haul that they say rang up to some $1.3 billion. That apparently included both counterfeit integrated circuits and various computer parts, which were branded with over forty different trademarks including Intel, Cisco and Philips, to name a few. Needless to say, the officials are now apparently feeling a little buoyed by their success, with them vowing to crack down on computer counterfeiters the world over, and " take up the matter" with China, which is where most of the seized products apparently came from.

It's not like ThinkPads have been immune to the notorious overheating battery issue, but a fiery incident in Ohio may not be IBM's fault. In a somewhat bizarre tale, it's reported that an Ohioan purchased a replacement battery from Shentech for his ThinkPad, only to later have it overheat, catch on fire and damage his machine. After discovering that the faulty cell was actually a counterfeit, IBM took the liberty of ordering a dozen batteries from the Flushing, New York-based company, and it soon discovered that all twelve received were indeed fakes. As you can probably guess, IBM has filed suit against the outfit and has asked the court to require Shentech to hand over all of its batteries for destruction, profits it made from selling the fakes and a million dollars "per counterfeit mark per type of item sold." That'll teach 'em to mess with Big Blue.

[Via TGDaily]

Unfortunately for those 4,400 or so owners of the Xenon Aluminum flashlight sold at Sportsman's Warehouse, the recall wagon has come your way, and unless you have no fear of exploding batteries, we'd suggest you power it off at your earliest convenience. Interestingly enough, this case involves more than just a faulty design, as the Panasonic CR123A Industrial Lithium batteries packed within are believed to be counterfeits, and it comes as no surprise that these knockoffs "can overheat and rupture, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers." So, if you happen to own the six-, nine-, or twelve-volt version of these here devices, it looks like you'll be making an unwanted trip out to Sportsman's Warehouse before long.

Considering the sensational amount of knockoff gadgetry and counterfeit software that manages to emerge in China, it's only surprising that it has taken this long for a company (or two) to unveil a legitimate solution to at least curb the amount of black market goods that leave the country. Reportedly, Oracle will be teaming up with Hitachi to "jointly market wireless IC tags in China that can be used to identify whether products are real or not," meaning that tagged goods can now be easily identified as authentic when placed over a reader. The tags will be made and distributed by Hitachi and the duo of firms will promote the usage of said anti-piracy measures with the Tokyo-based Ubiquitous ID Center which issues and manages IC tags. Initially, the tags will purportedly be used with tickets for the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, but there was no word on any planned rollouts or potential takers outside of these two events. Still, for Japanese wares makers that operate in China, ¥10 ($0.08) a pop for these piracy-thwarting tags sounds like an awfully fair deal. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

[Via Yahoo]

Xerox, the same outfit looking to extract information from your web browsing excursions, has now churned out a swank anti-counterfeiting procedure that purportedly allows a vanilla digital printer to "create personalized fluorescent marks on documents." Of course, these fluorescent signatures are commonly used to authenticate currency, and Xerox is hoping that people warm up to the idea of slapping the same level of security onto documents ranging from licenses, certificates, or even personal checks. The method utilizes the "dry ink" found in xerographic printers to create the secure imprint, and curious users can spot the tell-tale sign when exposing the document to ultraviolet light. Of course, you should still be wary of that dubious looking bizhub crammed over in the corner office, but if you're interested in Xerox's latest counterfeit squashing technology, you can snag it as part of the FreeFlow Variable Information Suite 5.0 software.

[Via Gizmag]

Dear fair use consumer large-scale phony DVD mafia ringleader: we certainly don't hope you're using FedEx UK to ship around those counterfeit movies en masse to clients like an illegitimate Netflix or something. Why, you may ask? Good question. The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has begun employing two very special black labs for the express purpose of sniffing out pirated DVDs. If it sounds fantastical, think again. The two doggies who volunteered for the job, Lucky and Flo, have already begun sniffing out phony DVDs from packed parcels (the third, Hustle, quit to pursue an acting career as the vicious  barking dog in hip hop videos). Never mind the privacy implications for those mailing backup DVDs to themselves (like, when they're moving), this is all about nailing the more nefarious counterfeiting individuals who may soon have to find a better way to move their wares -- unless they just give up and put Lucky and Flow out of business. In which case can they come help sniff out our keys? We're like, totally late, really gotta go.

In what has to be the most impressive display of criminal initiative that we've ever seen, an organized group of conspirators in Japan, China, and Taiwan managed to convince dozens of factories in the latter two countries that they represented Japan's NEC Corp., and got them to manufacture pirated products under the NEC brand. According the the International Herald Tribune, not only did the pirates duplicate versions of real NEC devices -- which, according to NEC, were "of generally good quality" -- they actually began producing their own line of NEC-branded products, developed with R&D commissioned by NEC business card-carrying "executives."  All-in-all, the pirates had a product lineup of some fifty different items, ranging from home theater equipment to MP3 players to PC peripherals, and were even thoughtful enough to include counterfeit manuals and warranty documents with their goods. Apparently the ring has been operating since at least 2004, although the real NEC only made the details known recently, following a private investigation that led to the ringleaders' arrest and crackdowns by local authorities on the offending factories.

[Via Techdirt]